Raiders make flurry of Friday free-agency moves

Oakland continues shifting pieces in wide receivers room

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Arizona Cardinals’ J.J. Nelson (14) is tackled after a catch against San Francisco 49ers’ Dontae Johnson (36) in the second quarter of their NFL game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. on Sunday, Nov. 5, 2017. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

The Raiders continued revamping their wide receivers room Friday with the addition of former Cardinals wideout J.J. Nelson, whose 4.28-second 40-yard dash at the 2015 combine stands as the fifth-fastest time in combine history.

Nelson has played for the Cardinals since 2015 and racked up 81 catches for 1,439 yards and 10 touchdowns in four seasons. Last season Nelson played 14 games but only caught seven passes for 64 yards.

His 17.8 yards per reception average rank first in the league since 2015 among receivers with at least 80 catches. Nelson also has five career touchdowns of 30 or more yards and three spanning at least 50 yards.

The Raiders’ top five receivers are currently Antonio Brown, Tyrell Williams, Seth Roberts, Nelson and Marcell Ateman. Brown, Williams and Nelson have officially signed with the Raiders in the past three days.

The Raiders also signed free-agent defensive end Josh Mauro. Mauro started his career with the Cardinals, where he played under new Raiders defensive line coach Brentson Buckner. He most recently played for the Giants in 2018 and has three sacks in five seasons.

Mauro is now one of only two defensive ends under contract with the Raiders, along with Arden Key.

The Raiders also announced the re-signings of exclusive rights free agent Jason Cabinda, a linebacker who started three games and played in 10 last season after going undrafted out of Penn State, and offensive guard Chaz Green, who started one game at left guard last season. Cabinda made 21 total tackles and 14 solo tackles during his rookie campaign. Green will provide depth at guard after the Raiders traded Kelechi Osemele to the Jets and the Bills signed Jon Feliciano in free agency.

Matt Schneidman joined the Bay Area News Group in September 2017 to cover the Oakland Raiders. He graduated from Syracuse University in Spring 2017 and has interned with The Buffalo News, the New York Post and USA TODAY.